Evaluation of the Abuscreen for methadone.

The increased use and abuse of methadone in recent years has posed a problem of both its identification and quantitation in body tissues. Recent development of a radioimmunoassay for methadone appears to have solved the problem. In our hands the assay was extremely sensitive and specific. It also appears to be an excellent tool when quantitative estimates are to be obtained. Although it initially appears to be relatively expensive, the time saved in doing a complete tissue distribution equalizes the cost. It is hoped that other radioimmunoassays currently under development will prove as satisfactory.     

Development from below: Neighborhood improvement associations in the Latin American squatter settlements

Juntas, a type of neighborhood association found in many Latin American countries, are described in terms of their common characteristics, functions, and strategies. Factors which strengthen juntas are isolated, and the potential for juntas to become ongoing institutionalized structures is discussed. Information from a large number of written sources was compared in order to identify the common cross cultural characteristics of juntas. Juntas generally originate as squatter invasion forces organized to take over and settle, either gradually or overnight, unocupied lands in or near urban centers. After invasion the huntas continue to function as neighborhood associations which make collective demands on the government for public services and which promote various self-help projects within the squatter community. Juntas are widespread in Latin American countries. Of the 91 squatter settlements which have been studied in 11 different countries, 61 has juntas. Participation of household heads in the juntas ranges from 10-70%. Most squatter invasions are planned or spontaneous radical political action. The collective invasion itself often serves to open negotiations with the government. After the invasion leaders are elected, and they help organize the new community by assigning land, setting boundries, screening new settlers, collecting dues, and directing a variety of self-help construction projects. Collective demands are then made on the government to provide urban services such as water and electricity. The collective nature of the demand helps reduce the risk of official retaliation. Demand strategies include petitioning high level government officials, utilizing personalistic contacts, affiliating with either the rulingpower or opposing parties, appealing to outside agencies, linking up with other juntas, conducting public demonstrations, and publicizing their grievances in order to engender public support. After basic services are provided the juntas promote self-help projects such as organizing taxi services, medical clinics, vocational and lteracy programs, and building playgrounds. The juntas sometimes perform quasi governmental functions, such as, settling disputes between community members and policing the community. Participation in juntas declines as the need for making outside demands lessens; however, the high level of self-help activity keeps the juntas viable. They also retain the latent capacity for political demand behavior if the need for action arises. Factors which strengthen juntas included 1) high population density and large size of the squatter community, 2) defined boundaries, 3) close proximity to urban agencies, 4) climatic factors which make it necessary to act quickly and collectively, and 5) a moderate level of heterogeneity in the squatter population.     

Gender Equity: Illusion or Reality for Women in the Federal Executive Service?

With the passage of the Civil Service Reform Act in 1978, the federal government created the Senior Executive Service (SES) and formally committed the federal government to equal employment opportunity, advocating a “federal service reflective of the nation's diversity.” Since then, women have made dramatic progress in the ranks of the SES. This research probes the following questions: Has women's advancement into the ranks of the SES been illusory or real? Are women simply being appointed to token positions to fulfill affirmative action goals? Or do they contribute to governance from real positions of power and influence? Using data from a recent survey of Senior Executive Service members, this research indicates that male and female members of the SES have almost identical responsibilities and, most interestingly, women executives rate themselves as relatively more influential than do their male colleagues.     

The pious or the doctrinaire? who supports suicide terrorism in Indonesia?

ABSTRACT

Indonesia is generally viewed as a moderate Muslim nation that episodically struggles with terrorism. Between 1981 and the end of 2016, Indonesia experienced 156 attacks from some 15 Islamist militant groups. However, the lineaments of popular support for Islamist militancy in Indonesia remain understudied. In this paper, we expand upon the existing literature on popular support for Islamist violence in Indonesia by replicating and extending the empirical framework for modeling the relationship between support for various conceptualizations of Shari’a and support for Islamist violence offered by Fair, Littman and Nugent (2018) for Pakistan and extended to Bangladesh by Fair, Hamza and Heller (2017). To do so, we conduct ordered logistical regression analysis of Pew survey data which includes information about respondents’ religious beliefs and practice as well as support for Islamist violence. We find considerable evidence that their framework is useful for understanding support for violence in Indonesia.     

The Budget‐Minimizing Bureaucrat? Empirical Evidence from the Senior Executive Service

In a representative democracy, we assume the populace exerts some control over the actions and outputs of government officials, ensuring they comport with public preferences. However, the growth of the fourth branch of government has created a paradox: Unelected bureaucrats now have the power to affect government decisions (Meier 1993; Rourke 1984; Aberbach, Putnam, and Rockman 1981).
In this article, I rely on two competing theories of bureaucratic behavior-representative-bureaucracy theory and Niskanen's budget-maximization theory-to assess how well the top ranks of the federal government represent the demands of the citizenry. Focusing on federal-spending priorities, I assess whether Senior Executive Service (SES) members mirror the attitudes of the populace or are likely to inflate budgets for their own personal gain. Contrary to the popular portrayal of the budget-maximizing bureaucrat (Niskanen 1971), I find these federal administrators prefer less spending than the public on most broad spending categories, even on issues that fall within their own departments' jurisdictions. As such, it may be time to revise our theories about bureaucratic self-interest and spending priorities.     

Does Regionalism Beget Regionalism? The Relationship between Norms and Regional Partnerships for Economic Development

Social scientists traditionally have described local governments as competing with each other for residents and businesses. But in a number of metropolitan areas in the United States, local governmental officials have formed groups voluntarily to enhance the economic development of multijurisdictional areas. This article develops a theory that asserts the key determinants of the formation of these regional partnerships for economic development are cooperative norms—or a tradition of regional cooperation—and need. The theory also posits that norms influence regional partnerships' organizational structure and processes. Hypotheses are tested empirically using data from all metropolitan areas in the United States and responses to a national survey of regional partnerships for economic development. Results provide some support for the theory that norms and need are both positively related to the formation of regional partnerships for economic development. Support is weak that norms are related the organizational characteristics of regional partnerships for economic development.